First: Day of School, Football Game, cookies

School arrived! Everyone around here was pretty excited. They all liked their classes and had a good day. Elisabeth was happy she had three recesses and was excited about lunch at school. Darci was happy she had her own desk and no homework. Davy was glad he got to decorate his journal with motorcycles. Beka was happy to have a locker all to herself. Nicole liked her teachers.
Davy played his first football game on Saturday. The coaches have done a great job helping the kids learn their responsibilities. It was super hot, but they just kept on giving it their all. Davy plays almost the whole time as offensive left tackle, defensive nose guard, and on the punt and kick-off teams. He got a few great tackles, but most of the time kept two or three guys busy at the line so the QB could make good passes.

I took Darci and Elisabeth shopping yesterday to spend their gift cards they got for their birthdays. Darci bought a soccer ball and Elisabeth got playdough which they used to make me these cookies. They are great- no calories!

Grandma's House

We took a family outing to my Grandma's house two weeks ago. We had a nice time visiting with Grandma and helping her with some household stuff. David mowed the lawn and the girls helped shine things up inside. And then we played. I let Grandma entertain me while the kids rode ATVs with Dad and swam in the creek. Nicole, as usual, had her nose in a book. I had to take a photo of her reading on the swing-set, because you could have found me in the exact spot 25 or so years ago. And probably my mother before that, and my grandmother, would have read there preswing. It's the same ground my family has ranched for over 100 years.
I feel something deep and reverenced when I think of that. There's something intensely personal about standing on a piece of ground marked with greatness. Isn't that part of the reason people travel to Jerusalem or Mecca or Cumorah? To feel the atmosphere of the place someone great once walked? To feel as if you're seeing the same skyline, breathing the same air, touching the same soil? For me, being at Grandma's house is the tangible reality of the family history making me me.

It's Harvest Time!

YUMMY

We're not only harvesting in the garden, though. We're also trying to harvest up some end of summer fun. On Tuesday, I took the kids to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It's pretty cool. Lots of things to see and do and learn. It's awe inspiring to stand underneath a huge plant eater. (Yeah, I'm bad with dino names. Pretty much only know the main ones in Jurassic Park). Mary and Josh came with us and Mary and I decided it was a shame we hadn't been camping, so we went up American Fork canyon with the kids on Wednesday and camped. It rained all night, but we stayed dry and still had fun. Although, I have to say, camping is much more fun if you can have at least one day in between the loading up and unpacking. I forgot my camera otherwise I would post a picture. Mary took Darci and Bekah back to her house to help her setup her classroom and I went school supply shopping. Love all those school things the smell of paper and pencil lead.
This doesn't really fit under the category of summer fun, but three of us have been bitten by wasps this week. Poor husband's face is swollen up huge. Ouch! He's hoping ice-cream will cure it. It might for him. For me, ice-cream tends to have the opposite effect on my cheeks!